Family Ties
by EliseArainai
Summary: An elven rogue is reunited with his long-lost sister, a mage, just in time to fight the Blight.  On their journey to slay the archdemon, they find unexpected allies, friends, and love.   Alistair/F!Surana, Zevran/M!Mahariel  Rating subject to change
1. Prologue

**Family Ties, Prologue**

Title: Family Ties

Author: EliseArainai

Game: Dragon Age Origins

Characters/pairings: Zevran/M!Mahariel, Alistair/F!Surana

Disclaimer: Galai Mahariel and Aria Surana belong to me. All characters from the game (sadly) belong to Bioware. This is purely for fun.

Prologue

It was about midday in the town of Lothering. The neighbors were gossiping about the latest news, the merchants were advertising their wares to any who passed by, and the Templars were making their usual rounds. A sister of the Chantry was preaching to all who would listen.

That day, among those was three young Dalish elves: two boys barely thirteen, and a girl of eleven. Galai, one of the boys, stared at the sister in complete fascination. It was not what she was saying that interested him, but the reactions from the other humans that caught his attention. The other boy, Tamlen, quietly walked up to his friend.

"Galai," he whispered, "let's go, we really shouldn't be here anyway."

"Just a little longer, I think she's almost done," Galai protested.

Tamlen shook his head. Of course, Galai rarely ever took his best friend's advice. Time to call in the artillery. "Hey Aria, your brother's not listening again," Tamlen said in a mock whiny voice.

Aria rolled her eyes, reached over and grabbed her wayward brother's ear. Galai had to bite his lip in order to not cry out and interrupt the sermon. "Come on," Aria said as she pulled him away from the crowd.

Once they were a good distance away, Galai swatted his little sister's hand away and held his ear in pain. It wasn't as bad as when he had gotten his facial tattoos, but it still hurt like crazy. "Was that really necessary? I wasn't causing trouble or anything!" Galai pouted.

Aria sighed. "Really, and you're supposed to be the role model for me. Why are we even here? We are Dalish, not some flat-ears!"

"We're here because I want to learn more about the humans. They fascinate me somehow," Galai answered.

"Humans were the ones who took away so much from our ancestors and treat us like dirt. That's all you need to know," Tamlen answered simply. "And besides, why drag me and Aria into this?"

"Because, lethallin, it's not as much fun going by myself," said Galai as he flashed his usual mischievous grin.

The dirty blonde elf threw his hands up in frustration. Galai was always like this: full of curiosity and hungry for adventure. He was always causing trouble and dragging his friend and sister into his latest scheme. But sneaking into a human town was the biggest idea he had come up with so far.

Aria gave a concerned look. "Listen brother, I understand your thirst for knowledge, but this is just going to get us in trouble with the Keeper. Let's just head back; we can still reach the clan before the sun sets."

"Aw c'mon, just one more look around. It won't do any harm if I just look, right?" Galai asked.

Aria had to admit, her brother did have a point. Maybe his sense of adventure was rubbing off on her. "All right, just don't do anything stupid," said Aria. "That goes for you too, Tamlen."

"Right," Tamlen answered in utter defeat. _What am I to do with these two?_ he thought to himself.

Suddenly, there was shouting and a ragged boy ran right past the elves. A man with a beard burst through the crowd shouting, "Thief! Someone stop him!" Almost instinctively, Galai took off after the boy, hoping to stop the thief himself.

Tamlen shook his head once again. "That's Galai for you, always rushing into things, caution be damned," he muttered to himself. He turned to Aria, who was already heading into an alley that, by her reckoning, should come out to where Galai was heading. Tamlen reluctantly followed.

Being faster than the younger boy, Galai managed to catch up to him and he pounced, forcing the thief to the ground. "Phew, you're pretty fast," Galai commented as he brushed away some shoulder-length blonde hair that fell in his face. He then noticed that the thief had pointed ears. If there was one good quality about Galai, it was that he could never turn his back on someone in trouble, particularly elves. The young Dalish stood up and helped the city elf up to his feet. He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a single silver that he had found earlier, and gave it to the boy. "Here, use this to pay for what you took," he whispered. By the time the bearded human had caught up to them, Galai had hidden in an alley to see how things turned out. Tamlen and Aria were already in the alley.

The younger boy looked up to the man and held out the silver. "I-I'm sorry, here's the money for the bread," he stammered.

The man just spat in the dirt. "Heh, you think you're off the hook because you cough up the money now? You tried to steal from me, knife-ears, and you're gonna pay for it in a whole other way!"

Galai rushed out of hiding, despite Tamlen's warnings, and shoved the boy out of the way just before the man could strike him. "That's enough! He just said he'd pay for it, now just take the money and go!" he shouted.

"P-please, you've helped me enough, it's okay," the boy pleaded. Galai just gave a kind smile and looked at the boy.

"Just go, I'll deal with this shem. We elves have to look out for one another." The boy nodded, then ran off.

The merchant then punched Galai right in the face. "You little upstart! You protect a thief, you get the same punishment!" he yelled before striking Galai again. The young elf tried to fight back, but the merchant's punches were disorienting, and he couldn't land a hit.

Aria clenched her fists. She couldn't bear to see her strong older brother getting beaten by that shemlen. Sparks of electricity surrounded her fists, and before Tamlen could stop her, Aria jumped out of the alley. "Stop it! Leave him alone!" she cried as she released an Arcane Bolt on the merchant, knocking him unconscious.

Tamlen dashed out to help his friend. "Are you alright?" he asked, holding a hand out to Galai.

He responded with a joke. "Whoa! Tamlen, I didn't know you had a twin!"

Tamlen just let out a short laugh and hauled Galai onto his feet. He then turned to Aria. "Think maybe you overdid it a little?"

Aria shook her head, causing her long silver hair to swish back and forth. "No way, that shem got what he deserved."

Suddenly, three men in armor forced their way through the crowd. Judging by the emblem on their chest plates, Galai figured they were Templars, knights of the Chantry. "Alright, which one is the apostate?" shouted a man with slicked back hair and an eye patch. Galai guessed he was the leader.

"She's the one, the knife-ear with silver hair!" shouted someone in the crowd.

"Seize her!" the Templar commanded, and his two subordinates walked straight towards Aria.

Galai had completely regained his senses, and he and Tamlen stood between Aria and the Templars. "You will not lay a hand on my sister!" he growled, glaring at the armored men.

"My apologies, young man, but your sister can use magic. She must be taken to the Tower of Magi where she can learn to use her abilities properly," Eye Patch explained.

"Like hell she's going!" Galai shouted, reaching for his knife only to remember that he had left it outside of town. A quick look at Tamlen confirmed that he too was without a weapon.

"Please understand," Eye Patch continued, "this is the safest way for her to develop as a mage. She will be with others like herself, and the Templars will be there if there is any trouble. If we just leave her alone like this, then I can't guarantee that another incident like this won't happen again."

Galai wasn't sure what to believe. Aria had been just fine using magic before whenever she practiced with her friend Merril, and yet this man was saying that she could go out of control if she didn't go to the Tower. Before he could say anything else, the Templars shoved the two bewildered boys aside and picked up Aria.

"No, put me down! Let me go!" she screamed, trying to kick the men holding her. She tried to use her magic, but the Templars were already draining her mana.

"Aria!" Galai cried out, reaching out for her only for him and Tamlen to be held back by two other humans.

"Brother!" Aria cried, tears falling from her eyes.

Galai struggled and pulled for all he was worth, but he was held fast. After a minute or so, the Templars and Aria were gone, and the boys were released. Tamlen walked up and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, lethallin."

Galai was devastated. First his parents died when he was a child, and now his precious sister was taken from him… and he had been powerless to stop it. Blinking back tears, Galai ran toward the edge of town, pushing his way through the humans until he got there. There, he shouted as loud as he could, "Aria! I wasn't able to protect you now, but someday I will become strong! We'll meet again! I PROMISE!" And then he fell to his knees, releasing the tears he held back.


	2. Chapter I

Title: Family Ties  
>Author: EliseArainai<br>Game: Dragon Age Origins  
>Characterspairings: Zevran/M!Mahariel, Alistair/F!Surana  
>Disclaimer: Galai Mahariel and Aria Surana belong to me. All characters from the game (sadly) belong to Bioware. This is purely for fun.<p>

Chapter 1

_Seven years later…_

Galai raced through the forest. He and Tamlen had been hunting only a few minutes ago when a group of humans was spotted near the camp, and Tamlen gave chase. Anxious to get in on the action, Galai managed to catch up to his friend, who had his bow drawn and aimed at the humans. He tried to hide his laughter when one man cried out, "It's a Dalish!"

"And you three are somewhere you shouldn't be," Tamlen responded, clearly not as amused as Galai.

"Let us pass elf, you have no right to stop us!" another of the humans demanded.

"No? We'll just see about that, won't we?" said Tamlen, cocking an eyebrow.

It was then that Galai decided to make his presence known. Bow drawn, he edged over to Tamlen's side. "Hey, what did I miss?" he asked jokingly.

Tamlen glanced over at his friend. "You're just in time, I found these humans lurking in the bushes. Bandits, no doubt."

"We aren't bandits, we swear!" one of the humans, a man with light brown hair, protested.

"Is that right?" Galai said, aiming his arrow at a red-headed man.

"Please don't hurt us!" the redhead begged.

"You shemlen are pathetic," Tamlen said with a scoff, "it's hard to believe you drove us from our homeland."

"W-W-We've never done nothing to you, dalish!" the third man stammered. "We didn't even know this forest was yours."

Tamlen's brow furrowed in irritation. "This forest isn't ours, fool. You stumbled too close to our camp." He then glared at his quarry. "You shems are like vermin, we can't trust you not to make mischief."

Galai glanced over at Tamlen. Unlike his friend, Galai had a sort of fascination with humans. In this case, he liked seeing their reactions to being threatened by the two elves. However, that curiosity had inadvertently led to his sister Aria's capture by Templars seven years before. Even so, Galai had to wonder if maybe there were some good humans. He hadn't met any so far, but he could only hope.

Now that he thought about it, he wondered how Aria was doing. He tried sending letters to her, only to receive no reply. It had been so long, his promise that they would see each other again seemed like it may never be fulfilled...

He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard Tamlen ask, "What do you say, lethallin? What should we do with them?"

"Huh? Oh," Galai mumbled, turning his attention back to the humans. "Let's find out what they're doing here," he suggested.

"Does it matter? Hunting or bandits, we'll have to move camp if we let them live," Tamlen answered, forcing himself not to roll his eyes at his wayward companion.

The first human stepped forward. "L-Look, we didn't come to make trouble. We just found a cave," he explained.

"Yes, a cave! With ruins like I've never seen!" the redhead chimed in. "We thought there might be, uh…"

"Treasure?" Tamlen interrupted. "So you're more akin to thieves than actual bandits."

Galai's ears had pricked up at the mention of ruins. He didn't remember seeing any around here. "We know this forest. There are caves, but no ruins. You lie," he said, pulling his arrow back a little farther.

"But I-I have proof! Here, we found this just inside the entrance," the redhead said as he stepped forward and held out a stone.

Tamlen loosened his bow and took the stone from the human. "This stone has carvings," he observed. His eyes then grew wide. "Is this elvish? Written elvish?"

"T-There's more in the ruins. We didn't get very far, though," the redhead told the astonished elves.

"Why not?" Galai asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"There was a demon, big with black eyes! Oh, thank the Maker we were able to outrun it!" the redhead exclaimed.

Galai couldn't believe his ears. Such a thing existed in these woods?

Tamlen wasn't quite so convinced, but he went along with it. "Heh, a demon. Where is this cave?" he asked, his hands readying his bow once again.

"Just off to the west, I think," the redhead answered. "There's a cave in the rock face with a huge hole just inside."

"Well, do you trust them? Should we let them go?" Tamlen asked, once again turning to Galai.

_What's he asking me for?_ he thought to himself. "You've frightened them enough. They won't bother us," Galai responded. The frightened humans ran off without looking back.

Tamlen put away his bow and picked up the stone again. "Well, shall we see if there's any truth to their story?" he asked his friend, though he had a good idea what his answer would be. "These carvings make me curious."

"Sounds like a good idea," Galai answered with a smile. Any excuse to explore the unknown was good enough for him.

"And if we find anything, the Keeper will want to know," Tamlen reminded him.

As they walked through the forest, Galai couldn't help picking on Tamlen a little. "You know, it's rare to see you curious about something," he said, nudging his friend.

"Guess I'm finally rubbing off on you, huh?" "Yeah, probably," Tamlen answered. "And it's not like you to space out while we're interrogating humans. What were you thinking about?"

Galai fell silent and looked away, and Tamlen knew the reason why. He had been thinking about that day, the day Galai had failed to protect his precious little sister. Since then, he had been practicing his skills at archery and dual daggers so that one day he might leave the clan and search for Aria. Any mention of the incident made Galai depressed, and it was particularly bad on the anniversary of that day, which just happened to be today.

Tamlen placed a hand on his companion's shoulder. "I'm sure she's doing well," he said, trying to reassure his sullen friend. Galai didn't say anything. Tamlen then tugged on Galai's ponytail.

"Ow! What was that for?" Galai cried, holding his head in pain.

"Come on, can't you cheer up at least a little bit? Exploring is something you love to do," said Tamlen. "Besides, Aria wouldn't want you to feel so sad all the time."

Galai looked at his friend and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, lethallin," he said, placing a hand on Tamlen's shoulder.

"Hey, anything for my best friend," said Tamlen.

Eventually, they reached the rock face that the humans described. Tall rock arches loomed above them as they walked toward the cave. "This must be it, but I don't remember seeing it before, do you?" Tamlen asked.

"No, I don't," Galai answered, ears pricked up with excitement. "Let's check it out!"

"My thoughts exactly," said Tamlen, for once sounding just as excited as Galai. "With any luck, we'll find something that will make us clan heroes!" And with that, the two elves entered the cave.

As they looked around, Galai's heart began to beat faster. Somehow, something didn't feel right. He just couldn't shake the possibility of a demon living in the ruins. Galai certainly wasn't a coward, but he nearly jumped out of his skin when Tamlen started talking again. "Looks like the shem was telling the truth," he said.

After taking a few deep breaths, Galai added, "These ruins look more human than elven."

Tamlen looked at his friend. "Are you alright? You sound a little nervous. That's not like you."

Suddenly, two giant spiders dropped down from the ceiling. Tamlen didn't have enough time to ready his bow before he was pinned by one of the monsters.

Acting quickly, Galai drew his twin daggers and slashed at the spider holding his friend. Distracted, the spider tried to attack Galai, but he thrust his dagger into it just in time.

However, the second spider shot a sticky thread at the elf, wrapping around him and pinning his arms. Tamlen picked up his bow, and fired an arrow, killing the beast instantly. He then walked over and, borrowing one of Galai's daggers, started cutting away the threads that bound his friend.

"Thanks," Tamlen said.

"No problem," Galai retorted. Once Galai was free, the two friends continued to explore the ruins.

During the exploration, they found a statue of one of the Creators. This along with the human architecture of the ruins seemed to suggest that ancient elves used to live there alongside humans. Galai's eyes lit up at this prospect. Humans and elves living together as equals? He silently wished that such a thing was possible now.

They were interrupted once again when the skeletons that littered the ground suddenly came to life and attacked the two elves. Galai and Tamlen dispatched of the skeletons quickly, but then the door in front of them burst open and a large undead bear charged toward them. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this may have been the demon the humans had encountered.

Galai rushed forward, daggers in hand, but he was knocked away with a swipe of the beast's paw. Tamlen stumbled and fell backwards, his eyes wide with fear. Recovering from his fall, Galai then leapt onto the creature's back. Roaring ferociously, it tried to shake him off, but Galai held firm. After several dizzying seconds, he managed to slit the foul beast's throat.

He hopped off of the corpse and held out a hand to his terrified friend. "Are you alright, lethallin?"

Tamlen took Galai's hand and allowed himself to be pulled back up. "By the Creators! What… what was that thing?" was all he could say.

"I don't know," Galai responded before something in the next room caught his eye. In the center of the room was a large mirror flanked by two statues.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Tamlen remarked, clearly amazed. He looked at the writing on the side and muttered, "I wonder what this says."

"Do not touch the glass?" Galai jokingly suggested.

Tamlen let out a short laugh, but then continued to speak. "Not that we'd leave a fingerprint on it. See how clean it is? Not a single smudge or crack. I wonder what this writing is for…" Tamlen's ears suddenly pricked up. "Wait, did you see that? I think something moved inside the mirror."

Galai cocked an eyebrow at his friend. "You're imagining things."

"No, it was right there! Wait, there it is again!" Tamlen exclaimed, pointing at the mirror.

Galai looked, and he saw something to the effect of ripples on the water.

Tamlen began walking towards the mirror, as if in a trance. "Can you feel that? I think it knows we're here. I just need to take a closer look."

Galai cautiously followed his friend, all the while feeling his heart pounding against his chest. Something didn't feel right at all, and this mirror had something to do with it.

Tamlen then reached out and touched the mirror, its surface rippling wherever he touched. "It's… showing me places… I can see some kind of city… underground… and there's a great blackness…" His eyes narrowed, the widened. "It saw me!"

Galai watched in horror as some sort of energy crackled around the mirror. "Tamlen, get away from it!" he shouted.

"No, I can't look away!" Tamlen cried.

Suddenly, the energy shot out of the mirror, throwing Galai back, and everything went white, then black.

…

Galai's eyes fluttered open. His vision was blurry, but he could make out two figures.

"Can you hear me?" one of the figures, a human male, asked. "I am… very sorry." The man's voice was deep, yet somewhat soothing.

Galai tried to focus on the second figure, and he saw a young elven woman with silver hair. "A-Aria…?" he whispered before he slipped back into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter II

Title: Family Ties

Author: EliseArainai

Game: Dragon Age Origins

Characters/pairings: Zevran/M!Mahariel, Alistair/F!Surana

Disclaimer: Galai Mahariel and Aria Surana belong to me. Everything else (sadly) belongs to Bioware. This is purely for fun.

Chapter II

_Galai sat before the Keeper, his head hanging low. He had just revealed where he, Tamlen and Aria had gone that afternoon, as well as what had happened to his sister. But instead of yelling at the boy, she patted Galai on the head and looked at him with eyes filled with sympathy._

"_I am sorry, dallen," was all she said before tears welled up in the young elf's eyes once again. Galai brought his hand up and wiped his tears away before looking at the elder straight on._

"_I'll be alright, Keeper," he said, "because someday I'll be strong enough that I can look for her. I promised that we would meet again, and I never break my promises." As he said this, he tried to smile through the tears that still fell._

_The Keeper sighed and shook her head. "Still optimistic as ever," she muttered. "If Aria was taken to the Tower of Magi like you said, then there is little to no chance of you ever seeing her again."_

"_I'll break in if I have to," Galai answered without hesitation, trying his best to hold back the tears._

_The Keeper gave a sad smile and put a hand on the young elf's shoulder. "Come, you've had a difficult day to say the least. Get some rest before you do anything else."_

_Galai hung his head and nodded before he started back toward his tent. Within a few minutes, however, his strength finally left him and he collapsed, allowing sorrow to take over and the tears to overflow. Tamlen and Merrill, who were nearby, rushed over to see what was wrong. Galai ignored them, instead focusing on what the Keeper had said. Was it true? Would he truly never see his precious sister again…?_

…

When Galai woke up, it felt like his head was pounding. He slowly took in his surroundings, and he realized that somehow, he was back at the camp in his own tent. A silver-haired young woman was fast asleep next to him. She was wearing golden mage robes and a staff lay next to her. Galai also noticed that she was elven, and it took him a second to realize that she was holding his hand.

_Could it be…? Is it really her? _he thought. If it truly was Aria, then how did she escape from the Tower? Was she being hunted? But those were questions that would remain unspoken for now.

When the pounding in his head finally settled, he gently shook the mage until she woke up. "Hmm?" she muttered sleepily. Her eyes then widened. "Brother! You're awake!" she cried as she embraced him.

Galai wrapped his arms around his long-lost sister. "Aria… it's really you! I can't believe it."

Aria's eyes began to tear up, and her shoulders were shaking from crying. "I didn't think you would make it. I really thought you would die," she said in-between sobs.

Galai gently ruffled Aria's hair just like he used to do when they were children. "Hey, the important thing is that I'm - hey wait, just how bad was my condition?" he asked. His memory of what happened was a little fuzzy.

Before Aria could answer, someone else entered the tent. It was Fenarel, a fellow hunter and friend of Galai. "You're awake! The gods' own luck, lethallin," he said with a relieved expression. "Everyone is worried sick about you. How do you feel?"

"Fine Fenarel, but a little groggy," Galai answered.

"We thought you would die. The shem who brought you here said there wasn't much hope," Fenarel explained. "Guess he was wrong."

Galai's ears pricked up. "There was a human?" he suddenly asked before feeling dizzy.

Fenarel's ears flicked back in annoyance. "Take it easy! And yes, a shem brought you here two days ago. Aria was with him. You don't remember him?"

The elf couldn't believe it. "I've been here for two days?"

"I'm afraid so," Fenarel said with a nod. "Anyway, he was a Grey Warden, and he and Aria appeared out of nowhere with you slung over his shoulder."

"You were delirious with fever," Aria continued, having calmed down a little. "We found you outside a cave in the forest, unconscious and alone. Duncan left you here and then ran off again. The Keeper's been using the old magic to heal you."

"Duncan, huh?" Galai muttered. He had heard of Grey Wardens before. They were legendary warriors who were the best when it came to fighting the dreaded darkspawn. If there was really a Grey Warden in this forest, then Galai wanted to meet him.

But something still seemed off; Aria said that he had been found alone. Suddenly everything came rushing back to him. The cave, the ruins, the mirror, and … "Where's Tamlen?" he shouted, sitting up.

"Calm down," Fenarel said, placing a hand on his clanmate's shoulder. "Most of the hunters are looking for him right now. But the Keeper wanted to see you when you awoke. Stay here, I'll go get her." And Fenarel left the tent.

Galai couldn't believe it. He was finally reunited with his sister only to find out that his best friend was missing! If his own condition was that bad when Aria and this Duncan person found him, he feared for Tamlen's life.

Aria looked at her brother with sad eyes. "Well, at least there's a bright side to this. You're still alive, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, and I've got my sister back," he replied with a small smile. "You've become so beautiful." Her silver hair flowed down her back, and her emerald green eyes still shone as brightly as ever. There were no tattoos on her face, as she never got them before she was taken, but her beauty could've turned any man's head.

Aria smiled back. "And you've become quite handsome. You've been tying your hair back, it looks good. Now if only Tamlen could be found, it would be perfect."

Galai nodded in agreement.

While speaking to the Keeper, he learned that some sort of dark power nearly took his life, and that her magic almost wasn't enough to save him. He also found out a little more about Duncan. Apparently, he had gone into the cave to check for darkspawn when he had found the elf. The Keeper then asked Galai if he saw any darkspawn while he was there.

Having never even seen one before, Galai simply shook his head. "All I remember was the mirror," he answered.

"A mirror… and it caused all this," the Keeper said. "I have never heard of such a thing in all the lore we have collected." She sighed before continuing. "I was hoping for answers when you woke, but there are only more questions. And Tamlen is still missing. He is more important than any lore in these ruins." She then turned back to Galai with a serious expression. "If he is as sick as you were, his condition is grave."

"Duncan went back to the cave to look for darkspawn, but as much as I hate to admit it, we can't rely on him to look for Tamlen as well," Aria chimed in. "We must go ourselves, and quickly."

"Do you feel well enough to show us the way, dallen?" the Keeper asked Galai. "Without you, we will not find him."

"I feel fine, Keeper," Galai said as he stood up. He was a little shaky at first, but Aria was able to support him.

"I am relieved to hear it," the Keeper said with a smile. Her expression then became serious once again. "I am ordering the clan to pack the camp so we can go north. Take Merrill with you to the cave. Find Tamlen if you can, but do it swiftly."

"Take Merrill to the cave and find Tamlen. I understand," Galai repeated.

"I'll go too," Aria piped up.

"Are you sure? You don't know what's in that cave," Galai said.

"Tamlen is my friend too, you know," Aria retorted. "I could never abandon him."

Galai nodded in acceptance. Of course, this meant he would have to try to protect two mages instead of one. Not an easy task for a rogue, but it would be worth it to see his sister unharmed.

"Go quickly, for Tamlen's life hangs in the balance," the Keeper urged once more.

"Of course. Pray for us, Keeper," Galai said before he exited his tent for the first time in two days. He was eager to look for his friend and with his sister at his side once again, he felt like he could accomplish anything.


End file.
